Sunday, March 29, 2009

Here's the (finally) finished spring shelf. I'm really happy with it - the angel was swiped from my mom and is made from old barn wood, the "w" is metal, really heavy, and really old, the polka-dot "w" used to be silver and shabby chic and got a new life with some paint, the wallhanging you've seen already, and then there's my new Jennifer Lanne painting. Ahhhh....I l.o.v.e. it. I actually ordered another one of her paintings yesterday and I'm searching for the perfect home for it.

I grabbed this sweet little rusty metal basket from my mom's house last weekend - it's always so much fun poking around her garage, finding new treasures. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, and I'm still not, but for right now it's housing my new painting and some fresh flowers and just making me happy.

And here's the kitchen! It really wasn't too bad - we painted one day and took a couple of days to put the tile up. I grouted the tile during the day, between naptimes and snacks, and then we sealed the butcher block counters - 5 times. They had to be sanded first, since they have had 2 years of abuse, then we sealed them with this sort of mineral oil sealer - and they look fantastic!! I am SO pleased with them - we should have done this a long time ago.

Oh, and here's a new pillow I made - I'm working on a few series of pillows to put in my shop and this was my prototype. I decided to even up the crosses a little more so this one's mine to keep!

And I had the brilliant idea to slipcover our living room chairs. They're only 2 years old but I'm already tired of the upholstery. I should know better than to buy something patterned. It's a stripe, a really pretty stripe, actually, but I want a blank slate. I'm thinking of using a natural canvas, something I can wash and bleach. A lot.

Boy, that was a picture-heavy post, huh? Wish me luck with the slipcovering - I've never attempted it before and am totally flying blind. Any tips?

Saturday, March 7, 2009

We're finishing up the kitchen painting tonight and I've hit the wall. I'm sitting here at the island while Josh paints the last little bit. Love that man. It's so bright and fresh - like a ripe pear. It's amazing what a new color can do to a space! Now I'm super excited to see the tile go up. We're doing glossy white subway tile and hopefullys starting on it tomorrow.

My friend Chris & I decided to do the Pumpkin Festival this year. I had planned on doing it last year and realized what an enormous amount of work it involved, so I'm thinking that starting 8 months ahead of time and with two people it shouldn't be bad at all. We're brainstorming so hard about things to make that I think neither of us is getting much other thinking done. I'm surprised I haven't tried to feed the kids clay and paint for breakfast yet. ;) And check out this gorgeous crocheted throw with Amy Butler patchwork that Chris made - it's up for sale in her new Etsy shop, Mabel+Lola (those are the names of her kids' fairies!)

I finished Dawson's quilt about a month ago and kept forgetting to take pictures of it. This is the first quilt I've done with hand-stitched binding and let me tell you, I'm hooked! I'll never machine-sew sandwiched binding again. It is so relaxing to do and looks wonderful.

Here's a little preview of my spring shelf. I made this wall-hanging a couple of weeks ago, and it was one of those projects that just clicked, you know? I was planning on making a table runner inspired by this Anthropologie pillow, with a sort of leafy vine connected with embroidery. I was cutting out the leaves and stacking them up to iron on when I saw an unintentional pattern emerging - and it really reminded me of Orla Kiely! I knew immediately what direction I wanted to take - a fresh take on her trademark pattern - a little more laid-back and using my favorite vintage fabrics. This piece feels so much like spring to me - bright, comfortable, and fresh. I received my Jennifer Lanne painting today (I bought it using my birthday money & it is incredible!!) and I'm going to take a picture of the completed shelf to share with you later this week.

And here's a sweet vintage children's rocker I got a couple of years ago for $5. It's sitting on top of a bookcase and I planned on putting a fern in it, but I'm kind of liking our wedding picture and letterpress blocks right now. Look at those kids. Who would've thought 8 years and 3 kids later I would love him even more....It's amazing, really, how you think you know everything about the one you love, the one you are marrying, when you've just touched the surface.

Now that I've gagged you with the sappiness!, go listen to this - it's my favorite song of the week! I hope you have a fantastic Saturday evening....